A meaningful, uplifting and rewarding vocation
20 years ago at this time of year, I completed my teaching qualifications and embarked on what has proven to be a wonderfully fulfilling career experience. From the very beginning, I found teaching to be an enormously meaningful, uplifting and rewarding vocation.
You will, no doubt, have read of the many challenges that are being experienced within the teaching profession. Despite changes to the way initial teacher education is conducted, and a great level of attention and support provided to teachers in the initial years of employment, the statistics of teachers not making it beyond their first five years of the job continues to sit at above 50%. Compounding this is the fact that there is a teacher shortage that is particularly affecting state schools and the pressure on new graduates to take on higher pressured roles is evident.
Thankfully, the unique King David School culture, the warm and mutually respectful relationships that are garnered here and the explicit support provided for our teachers, have allowed us to buck the trend and to experience industry leading levels of teacher retention.
In the past fortnight I have come across two opinion pieces written by long standing teachers who share my views on just why it is so joyful to devote one’s working life to educating young people.
For instance, in her piece published in The Age, Amra Pajalic shares that a colleague with four decades of teaching experience credits the job with keeping her young. She says that keeping abreast of youth culture has been her “fountain of youth”. Pajalic states that teaching has been “invigorating” for her in its provision of an avenue to be her authentic self. She explains that she has been inspired by her students to be herself. She states that: “In a classroom with teenagers, there are no coded messages, no doublespeak, no hidden meanings. What you see is what you get. A teenager is in a state of becoming, and in that state, they are completely, and beautifully, authentic.”
Pajalic goes on to discuss the satisfaction that she receives from the impact that she has made. She says: “I never question the meaning of my life and whether I am making an impact. I know because my students tell me. There was my Year 7 class who threw me a surprise birthday party and then gave me a birthday card every year until they graduated. There are the students who seek me out for a chat when I’m out in the community and not their teacher. There are those whom I taught last year who tell me they miss me and want me to be their teacher again.”
Similarly, in an op-ed in The Australian, Ann Rennie, a veteran teacher who is about to retire, speaks of her satisfaction and pride in being a link in the chain in educating the next generations. She argues that we need to invest in long-term careers of teachers so that we can address the “PR problem” of teaching and rather acknowledge it as a valued vocation. She quotes GK Chesterton who wrote that “education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”
While open about the challenges, she also speaks of the great rewards of teaching. She states: “I am grateful for the good times I had in the classroom, the light bulb moments, the laughter, the occasional and necessary tedium, the student successes and challenges, and the autonomy I had to create my own learning community… I witnessed the kindness of students helping each other as they began growing into their future selves as they learned to collaborate and share ideas and dreams.”
Like so many of my colleagues, I share in this great sense of fulfilment and satisfaction from being privileged to work at this school. I hope that our community continues to value our exceptionally committed educators and commits to the respectful, collaborative and mutual partnership that best characterises our culture and supports the wellbeing of our staff and students.
Shabbat Shalom,
You will, no doubt, have read of the many challenges that are being experienced within the teaching profession. Despite changes to the way initial teacher education is conducted, and a great level of attention and support provided to teachers in the initial years of employment, the statistics of teachers not making it beyond their first five years of the job continues to sit at above 50%. Compounding this is the fact that there is a teacher shortage that is particularly affecting state schools and the pressure on new graduates to take on higher pressured roles is evident.
Thankfully, the unique King David School culture, the warm and mutually respectful relationships that are garnered here and the explicit support provided for our teachers, have allowed us to buck the trend and to experience industry leading levels of teacher retention.
In the past fortnight I have come across two opinion pieces written by long standing teachers who share my views on just why it is so joyful to devote one’s working life to educating young people.
For instance, in her piece published in The Age, Amra Pajalic shares that a colleague with four decades of teaching experience credits the job with keeping her young. She says that keeping abreast of youth culture has been her “fountain of youth”. Pajalic states that teaching has been “invigorating” for her in its provision of an avenue to be her authentic self. She explains that she has been inspired by her students to be herself. She states that: “In a classroom with teenagers, there are no coded messages, no doublespeak, no hidden meanings. What you see is what you get. A teenager is in a state of becoming, and in that state, they are completely, and beautifully, authentic.”
Pajalic goes on to discuss the satisfaction that she receives from the impact that she has made. She says: “I never question the meaning of my life and whether I am making an impact. I know because my students tell me. There was my Year 7 class who threw me a surprise birthday party and then gave me a birthday card every year until they graduated. There are the students who seek me out for a chat when I’m out in the community and not their teacher. There are those whom I taught last year who tell me they miss me and want me to be their teacher again.”
Similarly, in an op-ed in The Australian, Ann Rennie, a veteran teacher who is about to retire, speaks of her satisfaction and pride in being a link in the chain in educating the next generations. She argues that we need to invest in long-term careers of teachers so that we can address the “PR problem” of teaching and rather acknowledge it as a valued vocation. She quotes GK Chesterton who wrote that “education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”
While open about the challenges, she also speaks of the great rewards of teaching. She states: “I am grateful for the good times I had in the classroom, the light bulb moments, the laughter, the occasional and necessary tedium, the student successes and challenges, and the autonomy I had to create my own learning community… I witnessed the kindness of students helping each other as they began growing into their future selves as they learned to collaborate and share ideas and dreams.”
Like so many of my colleagues, I share in this great sense of fulfilment and satisfaction from being privileged to work at this school. I hope that our community continues to value our exceptionally committed educators and commits to the respectful, collaborative and mutual partnership that best characterises our culture and supports the wellbeing of our staff and students.
Shabbat Shalom,
Marc Light